I am despirately looking for confirmation that I'm not the only woman in the world trying to concieve while still taking Remicade. I've been taking Remicade for three years now for Rheumatoid Arthritis and am going in for my second try at Invitrofertilization. My first attempt was not successful, but back then I was on meds that I felt comfortable with. Right now I'm taking Prednisone and Remicade and really need to speak to another woman who is taking remicade and has successfully had a healthy child. does anyone out there have any information good or bad that you could share with me? Or do you know of another forum that I should be looking at? My sincere thanks to anyone who can help.

I will keep this thread at the top of this forum. Many times, folks looking up info on the web and Google something such as "Remicade during pregnancy"..it will shoot them here! Who knows, maybe we'll catch!

Also, I'll put a thread for the HW Moderators, if anyone knows of someone in this situation, I'll be sure to have them contact you.

I've never been pregnant, nor "trying", but not "preventing" to conceive while on these meds either, but something tells me...you're not the only one trying to do this!

Here's to hoping you'll get some feedback quick!

Hang in there gal!

Oh, I know that the RNs that service the Remicade and such hotlines are usually pretty nice....what about calling them & inquiring if there is a refference listing to women who have been taking Remicade and conceiving and pregnancy? I mean...of course we're going to here..."do not become pregnant while on this medication....yadda yadda yadda.....but we are in the REAL WORLD HERE! And you deserve truthful and "actual" testimonies.

Amy,Sharona on the Crohn's Forum delivered a healthy baby girl a couple months ago. Sharona was on Remicade the entire pregnancy. We have several other gals on the Crohn's Forum that have also had experience with this issue. Please come over to the Crohn's Forum and ask your question. You'll get lots of opinions! I'm off to search out some of Sharona's posts to give you the links.Ides

I see that you are a new member to HW...so to get to the Crohns Disease forum, just look straight above and to the right; you'll see FORUM QUICK JUMP and click the arrow and you can highlight and click the Crohns & it'll lead ya right there.

Another tidbit of info...some pharmaceutical labs that make meds like this offer a preganacy registery you can enroll in. I believe it offers to take your info & follows your case while on the medicines to use for research and studies and updated information.

I've been on Methotrexate, Enbrel, etc. for years. I'm getting married in a few months and my soon to be bride and myself are discussing having children before too much longer. I've been made aware that the 'Trexate would have to be suspended for several months prior to attempting to concieve. Due to a deterioration of my condition recently, my doc wants to put me on Remicade infusions from now on. I was wondering if anyone knows of problems with pregnancy due to the male taking these infusions. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hey there Atomik! Welcome to the forum.. and congrats on your upcoming marriage.. I am not on Remicade or MTX, but there are a bunch on here that are.. I'm sure they will be along shortly to share their stories.. Does your doc want to keep you on the MTX with the Remicade? I'm not sure about the issues that can arise with the male taking these type of meds.. but I'll do some research and see what I come up with.. hang in there, we'll get you answers! :)Moderator of Arthritis/Epilepsy Forums

I have some articles regarding several of the immunosuppressants meds and pregnancy, but I can't link them here. I'd be happy to forward them via email to anyone interested. Just click the envelope under my name to the left and you'll get my email.

I am just about to begin Humira and once I am started, I hope to begin trying to concieve. Having Crohn's and AS, I've just been too sick to consider a pregnancy, but once I get things settled on the med, I'm hoping to be more healthy.

We've had a lot of talk about the Biologics going on this week so I thought I'd bump this back up and repeat my offer of the info I have regading these meds and pregnancy.

I also found some info in my Humira pack regarding use in pregnancy. They are not recommending it, but are tracking the results of people who choose to continue treatment during pregnancy. Hopefully, this will lead us to even better data, sooner rather than later.

Did you ever find your answer Atomic? My husband is going to start Remicade we also plan to start trying for a baby sometime in the next year.Wife to Nathan (UCReallySucks)

Mother of two beautiful girls, Rachael (4) and Brooke (2)

Gave the stay at home parent job to my husband!

Currently working as a legal secretary with all the stress and responsibilites minus the actual "title" and fair pay! That's what happens when you're promoted from within (no wonder companies like doing that so much!) :P

Sorry didn't realize my husband's name was still signed on lolWife to Nathan (UCReallySucks)

Mother of two beautiful girls, Rachael (4) and Brooke (2)

Gave the stay at home parent job to my husband!

Currently working as a legal secretary with all the stress and responsibilites minus the actual "title" and fair pay! That's what happens when you're promoted from within (no wonder companies like doing that so much!) :P

oh no that is my name lol wow it must be lateWife to Nathan (UCReallySucks)

Mother of two beautiful girls, Rachael (4) and Brooke (2)

Gave the stay at home parent job to my husband!

Currently working as a legal secretary with all the stress and responsibilites minus the actual "title" and fair pay! That's what happens when you're promoted from within (no wonder companies like doing that so much!) :P

Hi girls,Just wanted to let you know that I have UC or Crohns (they are not sure what) and was sick for about 3 years. I had every drug but none made me better. After being on Remicade for 6 months I was completely in remission and accidently got pregnant. I am keeping the beautiful bubba and being a single mum and I have decided to stay on Remicade for the entire pregnancy. I remember the days when I was so sick I couldnt leave the house and I know that my body was not getting enough nutrients. I basically have faith that the universe wanted me to get pregnant and that everything will be ok. I am 5 months through my pregnancy and so far everything seems good! The best thing is that I feel healthy and excited about looking after my baby girl when she is born. The doctors here in Australia dont have much to say about the drug. I've been to 5 specialists and none have ever had a pregnant patient on remicade. If you are going to do it just trust that being healthy is the best thing you can give your child. Everything will be ok! I'll try to remember to update after "bella" is born xxx Good Luck!!!

This document has a list of questions and answers regarding Remicade (Infliximab) and pregnancy. Looks like it will answer most questions people may have, so hope that helps :)

http://www.otispregnancy.org/files/infliximab.pdf

Since Remicade has only been about for a little over 10 years, I doubt there's a huge amount of data, so there will likely not be any medical professional willing to commit to an opinion that it is safe.Dx: PsA/FMS

Hi Im new to the forum and was searching for information on Pregnancy and Remicade, google brought me to the site :)' I am currently 12 weeks along in pregnancy and have been on Remicade for the past 3 1/2 years which has kept me in remission. Im curious as to how the pregnancy went and what other meds she was on during. I am given diphenhydramine and solucortef before my remicade is started.

I tried to click the links to sharons post regarding her pregnancy while on remicade but it takes me nowhere ? Im wondering if anyone can help me on how to find the original thread or anyone have any input for me?

Remecade & pregancy.... I have RA. 9+ yrs ago I gave birth to a healthy boy while on remecade. He was exposed to 6 doses during the pregnancy and several more breastfeeding him. After I made the decision to stay on the remecade during the pregnancy I contacted a bunch of places including UCLA who pick me up as a study. There are several medical journal write ups & they flew out from CA to see my son, take pics and measurements. Prior to my son there had only been 38 documented cases of single dose exposures... my son was the first documented case of continual use / exposure during a pregnancy. My son was full term & weighed 8 lbs 15 oz and is now a very healthy 9 year old!! I hope this helps!!

I'm new to this site, I was Dx'd in 2002 with UC I suffered for a long time and none of the other meds helped. Finally in 2005 my Dr put me on Remicade and I have been Great. In 2006 I was surprised to find out I was pregnant. I stayed on the medication all through the pregnancy. My son was born Healthy and is now 6yrs old.

Is there anyone else on here that has been through this?

I wish there was someone to go to and ask questions and see that other people have gone through this.

DebbieDaly said...Remecade & pregancy.... I have RA. 9+ yrs ago I gave birth to a healthy boy while on remecade. He was exposed to 6 doses during the pregnancy and several more breastfeeding him. After I made the decision to stay on the remecade during the pregnancy I contacted a bunch of places including UCLA who pick me up as a study. There are several medical journal write ups & they flew out from CA to see my son, take pics and measurements. Prior to my son there had only been 38 documented cases of single dose exposures... my son was the first documented case of continual use / exposure during a pregnancy. My son was full term & weighed 8 lbs 15 oz and is now a very healthy 9 year old!! I hope this helps!!

Knowing that this drug is relatively new, I'm also worried about any possible long-term effects to the child, besides the effects to the unborn baby. So, I want to thank you, DebbieDaly, for following this post and letting us worried, soon-to-be moms know things will be okay. (I actually cried when I read it.) It is so reassuring to hear someone give their experiences beyond just having their baby or the first year or two of their child's life, though those experiences are also very helpful. I have been researching "pregnancy and Remicade" and found this post and I am so glad I did. I have been on Remicade for only 8 months for RA and it has helped SO tremendously! I can actually function WITHOUT pain!! My husband and I are considering getting pregnant, but being on this medication is the thing that scares me the most. He is my second husband, sweet as can be, with no children of his own. I have 2 from my first marriage and wouldn't even take acetaminophen or an antacid unless I absolutely had to, so trying to conceive while on biologics (recently stopped my methotrexate) goes completely against my grain. Thanks to ALL the moms who have posted their experiences regarding being pregnant while on Remicade!

I think you're probably ok with Remicade during pregnancy; methotrexate, however, is another story and should most definitely be stopped before conceiving. Remicade is the first biologic, I believe, and is not a new drug--it is a fairly old drug and has been studied extensively. It is rated Category B, so I guess this means that the studies on pregnancy have not ruled out harm to the child, but it doesn't prove harm either.

One thought--I've heard from my doctor, and others, that RA tends to go into remission during pregnancy, so it is possible that you could stop all drugs. It is likely to come back after delivery, but the pregnancy hormones have some kind of protective effect?

I already had my family before I was diagnosed with RA, but if I had wanted another child I would strongly consider going off all drugs during the pregnancy.